This presentation was made at CAASE18, The Conference on Advancing Analysis & Simulation in Engineering. CAASE18 brought together the leading visionaries, developers, and practitioners of CAE-related technologies in an open forum, to share experiences, discuss relevant trends, discover common themes, and explore future issues.

Resource Abstract

This presentation illustrates a powertrain development process based on a frontloaded approach that consists of comprehensive powertrain models and reliable simulation results validated by measurement. Together, these features allow prototype release based on a virtual powertrain. The frontloaded approach results in greater product maturity earlier in the development process and a smoother ramp down in resource requirements over time.

Analysis and simulation is the cornerstone of any advanced development process. The foundation of the analysis and simulation process portrayed here is a knowledge base that forms the backbone of all CAE activities. This knowledge base is used in prototype and production development projects, and consists of standardized processes and methods as well as data and quality management.

The key to this CAE management environment is a library of standardized methods. To date, there are over 180 analysis and simulation tasks (methods) in the knowledge base, as well as testing, calibration, design, reliability and statistics tasks. These tasks are required workflows for analysis and simulation teams worldwide. Each task comes with a general description, relationship to an assembly structure, lists of input and output, procedure checklist, detailed methodology and workflow, links to related projects, analysis/simulation models, reports, engines, and performance attributes and benchmarks.

The standardized methods allow work to be shared easily and seamlessly among teams globally. The output is a similar, familiar product regardless of where the work is executed. This standardization also allows an apples-to-apples comparison of analysis/simulation results between different projects, where small differences in input parameters often make the output/results incomparable. Most importantly, this system of standardized methods forms the basis of a viable benchmark database of performance attributes.

The featured knowledge base is built on a metadata model with multidimensional relationships between projects, assembly groups, standardized tasks, etc., where each can be cross referenced against the others. For example, given a standardized task, an analysis/simulation engineer can cross reference all assembly groups associated with this task as well as all projects that include this task.

In the presented analysis/simulation-driven design process, performance attributes and targets are defined with regard to the development scope and project boundary conditions. These performance attributes are monitored throughout the development process for the entire product, assembly groups or subassembly groups. Problem areas (where performance attributes fail to achieve their respective targets) are highlighted and can be immediately addressed. According to the status of the performance attributes, a virtual design release can be made at a part or system level.